Pirate Flagship

[Vane]

It can not be too hard to obtain for a pirate or too costly otherwise it becomes another liability that none use such as the larger war ships. Hence why my suggestion used a frigate with buffs but not strong enough to breeze through sotl's.

It needs to fit the mold of a pirate, cheaper, quicker, and if need be expendable.

Pirates make many enemies, this is why it needs to fit their style or again... useless ship to use and expose.

[Lockreed]

It can not be too hard to obtain for a pirate or too costly otherwise it becomes another liability that none use such as the larger war ships. Hence why my suggestion used a frigate with buffs but not strong enough to breeze through sotl's.

It needs to fit the mold of a pirate, cheaper, quicker, and if need be expendable.

Pirates make many enemies, this is why it needs to fit their style or again... useless ship to use and expose.

Perhaps this means that a ship isn't the right bonus for pirates. Pirate bonuses don't have to be mirrors of nation bonuses. We are discussing a pirate flagship only because of the MoW comparison to nation benefits.

What if every time a pirate won a fight that resulted in a ship losing a level or being sunk then [Pirate bonus triggers]

Then we just need to discuss what the [pirate bonus trigger] should be (kind of what Maha was implying). Much better reason to be a pirate and STAY being a pirate rather than dipping into piracy to get something neat and then returning to nations for the daily payout.

[Vane]

We are discussing pirate flag ships because CJ liked the idea in the past and has said it will be implemented at some point.

As Maha said as well it is also a trophy.

[Lockreed]

And as you said, pirates don't need trophies for counter-attackers to steal from them. I am merely suggesting that there may be better ideas out there for pirates if we consider them.

[Shadowood]

Would be great if Skyhawk would comment again as this was his idea in the beginning. See if his view has changed in a few years.

[Haron]

It can not be too hard to obtain for a pirate or too costly otherwise it becomes another liability that none use such as the larger war ships. Hence why my suggestion used a frigate with buffs but not strong enough to breeze through sotl's.

It needs to fit the mold of a pirate, cheaper, quicker, and if need be expendable.

Pirates make many enemies, this is why it needs to fit their style or again... useless ship to use and expose.

Perhaps this means that a ship isn't the right bonus for pirates. Pirate bonuses don't have to be mirrors of nation bonuses. We are discussing a pirate flagship only because of the MoW comparison to nation benefits.

What if every time a pirate won a fight that resulted in a ship losing a level or being sunk then [Pirate bonus triggers]

Then we just need to discuss what the [pirate bonus trigger] should be (kind of what Maha was implying). Much better reason to be a pirate and STAY being a pirate rather than dipping into piracy to get something neat and then returning to nations for the daily payout.

I agree with this. Also, if it's supposed to be a "compensation for the MoW" I don't think that makes much sense, as a pirate could just join a nation, rank up to Marquess, get the MoW and return to pirate. What is needed, is a "compensation" for the OTHER benefits one gets for being in a nation. That is, if the intention is to give an incentive for pirates to actually fly the Jolly Roger. I'm not sure that necessarily IS a good intention (it depends where the game wish to go regarding several issues), but IF this is the intention, then a bonus for those flying the Jolly Roger AND having achieved some "pirate milestones" (like a certain number of plunder wins) should get some sort of bonus. This COULD of course be tied to a ship, but doesn't have to be.

[Vane]

Rather than everyone going off saying pirates shouldn't get a ship. Perhaps contribute to its design as it will be implemented in the next large update.


Forthcoming Updates

Here is our current priority list. This list has been reluctantly released and it only lists big features planning.

1)Ship Specialization
We will go with what we have on the table right now. Feel free to participate on the discussion there. This will take the game to version 1.9
Since this is a core feature of the game, we will continue improving ship specialization with expansions in the future, to fit in all the rest ideas we have.

*2)IC Extension
This is an old idea. We want a new dimension for our 2.0 game version though. It is a feature that will also allow us to build on it.
In a few words, with this feature, your character will be placed in the map as an entity and it will be given options of things to do.

3)Nation Diplomacy
Yet another expansion for Nations core feature. This expansion will be big and it will move the game to 2.1

4)Witch Hut
A hideout building. It will expand the game to 2.2
It will incorporate recipes for existing features. New recipes will be added consistently to keep up with the new features.

5)Port Buildings
A core feature. It will be gigantic. You can see some of the ideas already at the forums but a big part of it is unknown. Probably the feature will be named Ports and port buildings will be a part of it. It will take the game to 2.3

Port Blockade/Wars (popular demand) should come afterwards and Foot Battles should be in game version 3.0. It makes more sense to have port battles implemented after Ports feature, in order to give defense options to ports.

Other important aspects affecting this schedule:
-Newcomer buffs
We already have a list of ideas. From newcomer mission tweaks, changes,additions to whole features. These are going to implemented at some point.
-New skin
The game skin needs to be redesigned. This needs to happen soon and at worse it should be implemented before Port Buildings.

I want to say that there are currently many more worthy ideas already in the table that have either been approved or are worthy to be approved. We believe that implementing these ideas is in the game best interests. Therefore, we want to work as hard as possible to deliver these features as fast as possible,in order to focus to the rest of the ideas.

Ship Specialization

I will just use general references, to save time:
Pirate Flagship
Ship Abilities
Special Crew and First Mate

Here is the leading design so far:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Every ship will get a list of new abilities.
-These abilities will be like the current upgrades (these will be regarded as basic abilities that EVERY ship has)
-Different ship types will have different set of extra abilities
-Just like current upgrades, abilities will be upgradeable with attribute points.

New concept: Crew Experience
-Crew Experience will increase the maximum attainable level of a ship.
-Crew experience will be gained from battles for War Type ships and from Trade Routes for Trade ships.
-Crew experience will be intensively hard to get.
-Crew experience will be irrelevant to crew number.



Ship leveling details
-Current max of 10 levels will be retained as basic max - regardless of crew experience.
-Initial max limit will be set to 20 level (This means 10 different levels of crew experience).
-Every level upgrade will use current system in attributes (3 to 5 attribute points per level up)
-We might use a different pricing module for levels beyond 10 as some ship prices will get really high if current system is used.
-There will be a limit for ability upgrades beyond level 10; they can't be higher than the ship level (so a level 14 sloop can have at most Cotton sails of 14)

My thought on a pirates flagship:

A pirate can name any "Frigate" His flag ship. (Can only name/have one Pirate Flag Ship at any time) Once a Frigate is named his Flag Ship, a boost is given to the ship.


New Stats for a Named Pirate Flag Ship

[*] Speed Class = Very Fast
[*] HP = 1,000 at level 10
[*] Crew = 200
[*] Cannons = 44
[*] "IS" leviathanable down to level 1. (like an MoW)
[*] Cannot be commandeered. (like an MoW)
[*] 5% boost to attack strength on attack roll. (a permanent bless, stackable with 2 x bless)
[*] If plundered by any other player it reverts back to "Frigate" stats and name.

This will make the ship maneuverable, strong enough to beat merchant fleets with escorts most of the time, strong enough to compete with a SotL 1v1, but not able to walk through a solid war fleet of 2-3 x Sotl's plus other ships. It will also benefit from "Advanced Piracy" as it is a Frigate.

+1

[Haron]

Yes, Vane, I agree. I was not aware that the Pirate Flagship would be part of the next upgrade. Then that is what we should discuss, like you say.

I still think what the ship needs is a plunder bonus. A new att for only that ship, +5% plunder per level of that att, for a total of +50% at level 10.

I also think the requirement for the ship should be a high number of plunder wins. 5000 would be my suggestion, even though it's a high number.

And the ship needs the same protection as a Mow regarding commandeer and sinking by levi. Should it be possible to steal, though - with the special ability? Not sure what I think yet, but right now I'm leaning towards Yes. Difficult question.

[Vane]

My suggestion of buffing a Frigate allows the use of Advanced piracy voodoo which give a 10% bonus to plunder from the targets treasury. I don't believe more in necessary.

I agree with plunder wins being a pre req to name your flagship though, however I think 5k is too high. There are few with that many as the top 10 board for wins reveals.

Perhaps 2k is a better number in my mind.

[Hawk]

A pirate mission would be fitting. Upon completion you get an achievement, a pirate flagship, and maybe a title?

Mission: Win 500 battles as a pirate

For the pirate flagship, I think each pirate should have options. This is most simply done by letting him pick his flagship from any ship he owns. Said ship gets some nice perks for as long as that player flies the Jolly Roger. If the ship is sunk or stolen, the player can acquire another by completing the mission again just for the ship. Perks should be player specific though, not attached to the ship. Although maybe a trophy tag saying that the ship was formerly "Kakaroct's Flagship" would be warrented.

Now for the flagship itself..

My dream flagship would aid all my goals as a pirate. So a plunder bonus is a must. 10% at the max level seems worth the effort but not too much extra.
A small battle bonus would be sweet. Maybe 5-10% attack and defense bonus for the ship similar to bless and drums of war
I don't think any Levi protection would be fair. Same advantage / drawbacks to your shipchoice should apply.
Lastly maybe a travel speed perk for the ship's fleet.

On a side note, a mission of this sort for pirates would go really well with a ranking for notoriety. Maybe based on plunder won, and battle won, or better yet, update the fame system or make one for pirates. Titles could be available to parallel noble ranks. Pirate, Dread Pirate, Pirate King (a purely honorary title obviously)

My ten cents